Everything You Need to Know About Oak Wilt
Oak Wilt
Oak wilt is considered to be one of the most destructive tree diseases in the United States. Over10,000 trees have already died of oak wilt in the Austin area alone.
What is Oak Wilt? Oak wilt is a disease caused by a fungus that clogs the water conducting vessels of infected trees, causing them to wilt and die.
What Causes Oak Wilt? A fungus called Ceratocystis fagacearum causes oak wilt.
What Types of Trees Can Get Oak Wilt? Oak wilt is a problem for live oaks and red oaks (including Spanish oak and Blackjack oak) in the Austin area and throughout Central Texas.
How Can I Tell If My Trees Have Oak Wilt? Live oaks and red oaks show distinctive symptoms when they are infected with oak wilt.
In live oaks, some leaves on infected trees may begin to show a characteristic pattern. The veins on the leaf will turn yellow or brown, while the rest of the leaf remains green. The tips of some leaves may also turn brown, or the leaves may turn yellow with only the veins remaining green. Once live oaks are infected, most gradually drop leaves and die over a period of three moths to a year. Some trees survive for many years in various states of decline.
In red oaks, leaf symptoms are less distinct. The main thing to watch for is a red oak whose leaves quickly turn pale green to brown, usually remaining attached to the tree for some time. Red oaks die more quickly than live than live oaks once they are infected with oak wilt. Once infected, trees will die within two weeks to several months.
Special structures covered with spores (called fungal mats) may form beneath the bark on certain infected red oaks. These fungal mats make the tree especially contagious, because they are the source of fungal spores which can be carried by insects to infect new trees. Fungal mats are not known to occur on live oaks.
In addition to visible signs of oak wilt, laboratory tests can be performed on the wood of both live oaks and red oaks to determine the presence of the fungus.
Oak wilt is considered to be one of the most destructive tree diseases in the United States. Over10,000 trees have already died of oak wilt in the Austin area alone.
What is Oak Wilt? Oak wilt is a disease caused by a fungus that clogs the water conducting vessels of infected trees, causing them to wilt and die.
What Causes Oak Wilt? A fungus called Ceratocystis fagacearum causes oak wilt.
What Types of Trees Can Get Oak Wilt? Oak wilt is a problem for live oaks and red oaks (including Spanish oak and Blackjack oak) in the Austin area and throughout Central Texas.
How Can I Tell If My Trees Have Oak Wilt? Live oaks and red oaks show distinctive symptoms when they are infected with oak wilt.
In live oaks, some leaves on infected trees may begin to show a characteristic pattern. The veins on the leaf will turn yellow or brown, while the rest of the leaf remains green. The tips of some leaves may also turn brown, or the leaves may turn yellow with only the veins remaining green. Once live oaks are infected, most gradually drop leaves and die over a period of three moths to a year. Some trees survive for many years in various states of decline.
In red oaks, leaf symptoms are less distinct. The main thing to watch for is a red oak whose leaves quickly turn pale green to brown, usually remaining attached to the tree for some time. Red oaks die more quickly than live than live oaks once they are infected with oak wilt. Once infected, trees will die within two weeks to several months.
Special structures covered with spores (called fungal mats) may form beneath the bark on certain infected red oaks. These fungal mats make the tree especially contagious, because they are the source of fungal spores which can be carried by insects to infect new trees. Fungal mats are not known to occur on live oaks.
In addition to visible signs of oak wilt, laboratory tests can be performed on the wood of both live oaks and red oaks to determine the presence of the fungus.
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